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A local drove himself to distraction, a Yorkshireman shared a five-way lead and a Thai monk is on the charge. All of which says nothing about the rat poison or the American whose caddie can’t be here because he served jail time for selling cocaine.
Truly, it was a wild first day at the 153rd Open Championship, where one man’s story was hijacked by a spectacular array of other tales, including the cluster of Englishmen topped by Matt Fitzpatrick who are bidding to end a 33-year curse.
Where to start? We should go to Rory McIlroy, if only for the fact that his return to these links has drawn so much noise in the past week.
His round of 70 was substantially better than the 79 he carded on the corresponding day in 2019, but the world No 2’s forthcoming chances depend on whatever answers he can find overnight. The driving range would be a good place for him to commence the search.
He had played eight holes before he found a fairway and it was on the ninth that he hit his last. The rest? They all missed, mostly to the left, with the upshot that his accuracy from the tee ranked dismally at 154 out of 156, albeit with the loss of only three shots to the leaders.
As such, the homecoming has not yet gone to plan, though it would have been rendered a shocker were it not for an exhibition of brilliant scrambling.
Rory McIlroy carded an opening round of 70 despite numerous wayward drives on Thursday
His Portrush homecoming has not yet gone to plan but there is time for McIlroy to salvage it
That the Northern Irishman briefly reached three under par via all manner of bunkers and thorns was impressive, but there were simply too many embedded issues in his swing to close the day on the first page of the leaderboard.
To think, McIlroy arrived here with a renewed spring in his step after that post-Augusta lull, but departed the course wondering how much better this might have been.
His putting was good, best shown by a 27-footer on the fifth, and so were his irons, demonstrated by a 130-yard approach from an awkward bank on the seventh that he almost holed, but the driving needs to improve. His resilience? That was his standout quality. But that’s enough of him for now.
Let’s instead go to those above, which takes us primarily to Fitzpatrick, who shared the lead at four under after a brilliant 67, having only recently emerged from a remarkable slump. To contextualise his fall, he was eighth in the world entering the 2024 season and 85th just two months ago, but his stirrings of late translated into a superb round here.
On a day where rounds were contested at an appallingly slow pace – around six hours – he endured the worst of the rain and laid down his marker with an eagle at the second. Birdies on the 12th and 16th, named Calamity, illuminated a back-nine of 33.
‘March of this year was the lowest I’ve felt in my career,’ he said. ‘I couldn’t find the face with the ball. It was just not good.’
What a difference a few months make. There hasn’t been an English winner of the Open since Sir Nick Faldo in 1992, but there’s a variety of Fitzpatrick’s countrymen in proximity after 18 holes, including Tyrrell Hatton, who shot 68 a matter of weeks after finishing fourth at the US Open.
Hatton is tied with Matthew Jordan, and one ahead of Lee Westwood, aged 52, who proved once more what we often say about wise old men and the links. Aaron Rai, 22 years his junior, matched Westwood’s 69, as did the evergreen Justin Rose.
Matt Fitzpatrick shared the lead at four under having recently emerged from a bad slump
Alongside Fitzpatrick was Jacob Skov Olesen, who has previously contested only one major
Alongside Fitzpatrick was Jacob Skov Olesen, the world No 354 who has previously contested only one major and couldn’t break the top 60. Will he be this year’s bolter?
Or should we look elsewhere among the eclectic cast on four under? Among them was Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa, who accidentally consumed rat poison as a toddler and developed a stammer through the complications.
As such, the 31-year-old once took beta blockers to mitigate his anxieties and in 2014 was handed a nine-month doping ban, but his road took him here, to Portrush, where an exquisite run of three straight birdies from the fifth set the foundation for his 67.
Carding the same score was Harris English, an American whose long-time caddie Eric Larson was denied entry to the UK this month. That traces to new visa rules that state those from the US can be refused entry if they have served prison sentences beyond 12 months.
Larson’s issue? He was locked up for 10 years for selling cocaine before his release in 2006, and for all the pleading letters sent by English, no reprieve was forthcoming. His putting coach Ramon Bescansa is on the bag instead, and had English not bogeyed the 14th he would hold the outright lead.
China’s Li Haotong, who burst on the major scene by finishing third at the 2017 Open when he was 21, and then largely fell from view, is also at four under.
One further back is Sadom Kaewkanjana, the world No 262, who was ordained as a monk in 2023 and says the calmness in his mind helps his golf. An eagle at the fifth lifted him to high places.
As an ensemble, that made for a remarkably surreal collection of golfers. Naturally, the expectation is that their stories will fade across 72 holes, and to that end, it is worth noting the ominous placing of Scottie Scheffler.
China’s Li Haotong, who burst on the major scene at the 2017 Open, is also at four under
One back is Sadom Kaewkanjana, the world No 262, who was ordained as a monk in 2023
His pre-tournament candour in saying he gets limited ‘fulfilment’ from winning golf tournaments stunned all of us present, but his appetite here was not in question. He closed with two birdies in his final three holes to shoot 68, which is evidence that the world No 1 is getting ever closer to cracking the code of links golf.
Asked about the comments he made on Tuesday, he said: ‘I think I try to be as honest as I can with y’all, with the stuff that I’m willing to kind of say.
‘At times I feel like maybe I should be a little less honest. Maybe I shouldn’t have said the stuff I said because now I’m going to get asked about it more.
‘But really it’s just a matter of perspective, and I’ve had some players come up to me and say that they feel and think the same things.
‘If anybody has disagreed with me, they haven’t said it to my face yet. Overall just glad to be out playing golf and competing again.’
If Scheffler has found solutions to this form of the game, then Bryson DeChambeau is still searching for the balance of art and science. He shot 78 to sit seven over, including an air shot in the thick rough of the eighth hole. A fourth missed cut at the Open appears to be on the cards.
Among the other big names, Jon Rahm joined McIlroy at one under, having erupted with anger on the 11th when a fan whistled during his back swing. Intriguingly, Phil Mickelson, another old swinger is there with them, as is 2019 champion Shane Lowry. Xander Schauffele, who won the Claret Jug last year, is level par.
